Outwood Academy Haydock has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Centre of Excellence status.
Removing Barriers To Learning
Outwood Academy Haydock is characterised by outstanding relationships between staff and students, high expectations of all members of the school community and a deep commitment to personalisation and removing barriers to learning. The welcoming, inclusive approach is apparent from the moment you walk through the school gates. Staff are greeting students and ensuring they are fully equipped to learn. If they are not, there is no drama, the situation is soon remedied with students being given whatever they need to be ready to make a positive start to their day. The senior management team is omnipresent; they know the students well and engage with pupils and staff in an incredibly warm and positive manner. The school’s inclusive ethos is recognised across the Outward Family.
The Senior Regional Director of SEND described it thus, “The school provides a warm, welcoming and equal opportunities space for all. Children thrive as a result of the empathetic approach of staff and have a deep sense of belonging. The skill is the hub of the community.” A feature which is worthy of note is that everything on our Assessor’s visit is triangulated in terms of message, understanding and impact. All members of the school community are on the same message and that message is that students absolutely come first at Haydock.
The school serves a mixed community with pockets of deprivation. Serving the local community and building positive relationships with parents is really important to the school. In the student body, there are 5% with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP), (twice the national average), SEND 23% (12.5% national) and Pupil Premium (PP) 37% (the national figure is 27%). This presents challenges which the school translates into opportunities. There have been 95 in-year starters across the year groups in the last 15 months.
The school prides itself on providing students with a fresh start, who may have been persistently absent, presented challenging behaviour or experienced difficulty at their previous school. They will pull out all the stops to meet the needs of a SEND pupil who transfers to Haydock having struggled in their previous school. As a result of their inclusive and enabling approach, the school has a track record of turning lives around for these young people. Outwood Academy Haydock is a school of choice in the local community. There has been a significant increase in the number of parents selecting the school as their first choice.
Inspirational Environment
Staff enjoy working at the school and staff retention is high. Joining Outwood Academies Trust has had a really positive impact, providing structures, teaching and learning Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and Health and Safety support. The school has a highly effective Inclusion Hub. This inspirational environment houses the Personal Learning Centre (PLC), The Bridge, Stepping Stones, counselling and safe spaces and it also houses the SEND department and attendance team. The Bridge provides a nurturing and therapeutic space for pupils with Social, Economic and Mental Health (SEMH) needs. During our Assessor’s visit to The Bridge a couple of students were accessing the mainstream curriculum via Google Classrooms and a small group was working on a health and wellbeing unit of work as part of the Prince’s Trust qualification. They told our Assessor how much they valued the provision and how they were taught how to deal with stress.
Stepping Stones is a provision for 25 pupils with moderate learning difficulties. The curriculum is delivered through a stage, not age approach and, where possible and appropriate, pupils access mainstream lessons alongside this provision. As a result of the high quality of literacy and numeracy teaching and the development of the pupils’ self-confidence and social skills, the majority of pupils who start in Stepping Stones are able to access the full mainstream curriculum by Year (Y) 9.
The school ensures pupils know about different religions, particularly those most prevalent in the local community. Pupils are given the skills to approach conversations around diversity with empathy and understanding. Pupils feel that the school is tolerant. They explained the impact that joining the trust has had in terms of their knowledge and understanding of diversity. They waxed lyrical about the library which, they said supports diversity in the school, “Celebrations of diversity propagate from the library. It is at the heart of Haydock.” They went on to say, “The librarian has put a lot of thought into making sure everything is correct and inclusive.” Books read in form time cover diversity and provoke discussion. During our assessors visit, the librarian was preparing for World Book Day. She is incredibly creative. Last year she ran an initiative called Love Books Island. Pupils were given a book, they had to decide whether to have a date with it or dump it! The theme this year will be ‘I’m a great book, get me out of here!’
The enrichment programme is a strength of the school. There is a wealth of diverse opportunities for students. On the second day of the IQM visit, our Assessor had the pleasure of dropping into Dungeons and Dragons, a very well attended Duke of Edinburgh club; it was the finals of an in-school competition around the theme of flight. Outside, the Key Stage (KS) 3 Haydock Premier League was in full swing, with 4 of the 8 teams, supported by their KS4 student managers, competing for their place in the league table.
Our assessor had the privilege to meet the talented members of the Young Designers Club, a popular and highly successful enrichment activity. Every year they enter the Victoria and Albert National KS3 Design competition. 270 schools take part and last year they won their category ‘Care’ and also won the overall competition; a fantastic achievement. They produced a companion for people who struggle with mental health. They were commended for the consumer research they did using the school’s Twitter pages and interviews with a mental health nurse. The club has got to the finals again this year with their design for a terrarium.
The word the group chose this year was ‘Restore’ and they decided to design something to restore people’s connection with nature. It uses recycled materials, even the manual is made out of seed paper so it is biodegradable and can be put inside the terrarium. In the design process, they looked at medical studies on the effect of biophilia, which as they educated me, is the inherent human need to connect with nature. They chose glass for the terrarium because it is recyclable and for the local industry connection to glass in St Helens.
The school could not be more committed to overcoming barriers, supporting families, facilitating attendance and ensuring a smooth, stress-free transition to the school for new starters. Every child gets a free bundle of all the school uniform including sports kit and the learning equipment they need when they start in Year 7. This supports 45% of PP pupils in the school. In-year transfers are also provided with this bundle. The school stocks a wide variety of uniforms for pupils in other groups to access and runs a hygiene bank so pupils will never be without the products they need.
They have a prom wardrobe for pupils to access and a hardship fund to support families who have emergency needs or are refugees new to the country.
Some last words from the wonderful pupils at Haydock on the subject of inclusion:
- “This is a school where you can go to any member of staff and whatever you are worrying about, or struggling with, it will be taken seriously.”
- “All students have a member of staff that they can talk to. The school is welcoming, it’s a big family and there is always someone to help you.”
- “There are loads of opportunities, everyone’s welcome, everyone is treated the same.”
- “I love the clubs; I go to one every day. Fridays are the best because it’s the Performing Arts club.”
- “The school tries hard to get a club to match every pupil’s interest.”
The staff commented:
- “We are a team, a community that works”
- “The school looks at each student as an individual and considers what works best for them.”
- “The school is also inclusive for staff, adapting the working environment and where necessary the working day to meet needs and to ensure we feel safe.”
- “New students to the school are swept up and looked after by their year group.”
- “We want all the pupils to be the best they can be, that’s what we always strive for.”
Find out more about the IQM Inclusive School Award
If your school is interested in obtaining the IQM Inclusive School Award or you wish to talk to a member of the IQM team please telephone:
028 7127 7857 (9.00 am to 5.00 pm)
or email: [email protected] for further details.
Want more information on the IQM Award? Click here to request your free IQM information pack.